Like the Total War series? Then look no further!
Waiting for Total War: Warhammer can be exhausting. Believe us, we know. Here is a list of similar titles to keep you amused while you brace yourself for the upcoming release.
10. Imperial Glory (2005)
A glimpse of the gameplay you can expect
Developer: Pyro Studios, Robosoft Technologies
Genre: Real-time tactics
Army setup is taken straight from another series
Taking place during the Napoleonic Wars, Imperial glory lets you pick one of the five major players of the period and reshape history the way you want.
The game lets you choose from one of five countries (Austria-Hungary, France, Great Britain, Russia, Prussia) and proceed to contest the other four for resources and territory. Each conquerable province produces a set amount of each resource, so holding on to as many as you can is advised. The naval combat is an interesting yet complex feature that takes some getting used to, but becomes very fulfilling later on.
Fans of the time period, as well as those of the genre, would do well to try this title, at least until the next Total War arrives.
9. The King’s Crusade (2010)
Special attention has been put into details
Developer: NeocoreGames
Genre: Real-time strategy, role-playing
This is sure to end unwell
Taking the role of either Richard the Lionheart or the Sultan Saladin, this game lets you play out the Third Crusade in all its horrors.
Aside from the strategic turn-based experience we all know and love, king’s Crusade places special focus on the real-time combat component. Adding significant tactical depth is the ability to fine tune your units in-between missions, as well as their ability to level up from good combat performance. Mission variety is impressive, and you'll be given multiple objectives before every rollout. Eliminating the enemy, sieges, and defensive battles of attrition are merely some of the many things you will have the honor of doing.
All in all, The King’s Crusade is a consistently fun and detailed strategy game that we can easily recommend to fans of the genre.
8. Eador: Masters of the Broken World (2013)
Make the shards your own
Developer: Snowbird Game Studios
Genre: Fantasy strategy game
Eador’s combat is reminiscent of the Heroes series
The world has been destroyed, blasted into inhabited shards that float through space, and it is up to you to claim them and put everything back together.
When starting a new game, you get to pick one of several randomly generated shards from which you start the game. Then, you may start your conquest, beginning from those nearest to you. As is the norm, you recruit heroes, items to equip them with, and units that make up their army. By building up your Stronghold, you gain access to upgrades and higher level units, like in the Heroes series.
Although the game is mercilessly difficult, the randomized nature of each individual game, along with a huge number of units and diverse heroes, make Eador an engaging and replayable experience.
7. King Arthur: The Roleplaying Game (2009)
Dragons, ogres and giant spiders
Developer: NeocoreGames
Genre: Real-time tactics
The mother of all one-sided battles
Take the role of the eponymous King Arthur, in this original take on the famous legend. Human and inhuman enemies alike stand against you in your quest to expand the kingdom, and your success depends solely on your tactical abilities.
As in the Total War series, the game is played from the large strategic map where you make the big decisions that are usually resolved on the real-time battlefield. Your morality and choice of religion are important, and make a significant impact on what kind of forces you can field. For instance, the kind of endgame units you can field is directly dependent on whether you are a Christian or an adherent of the so-called “Old Faith”.
All in all, a thoroughly satisfying title that offers a more fantastic alternative to a genre that’s bogged down by realism.
6. Mount & Blade: Warband (2010)
This series lets you lead the offense yourself
Developer: TaleWorlds Entertainment
Genre: Action RPG, Strategy, Simulation
You’ll feel powerful even as a mere human
After picking one of the game’s six factions and creating your Warlord, you are released into the game’s sandbox world with the goal of conquering everything.
Being the only action game on this list, Warband alternates between an overhead map of the game’s world, and a third-person tactical action game where you take the fight to the enemy yourself, backed by your men (whom you can command while you fight). As you advance through battles, your character becomes more powerful, which helps to make the game very addictive.
This being an independent title, there are slight technical rough spots, but as far as pure gameplay goes, Warband is pure gold.
5. Star Wars: Empire At War (2006)
Familiar gameplay in an even more familiar universe
Developer: Petroglyph Games
Genre: Real-time strategy
A Star Wars strategy game that’s actually good? Yes, please!
Choose between the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire and go to war for domination over the galaxy far, far away.
As is the custom, you move your forces over a large over-map, and engage in real-time combat when you encounter opposition. The scale of the game is massive due to it being set in space, and the tactical battles are sufficiently epic. Granted, the title loses a lot in the diplomacy department due to having only two opposed factions, but the setting and space battles are there to make up for it.
Fans of Star Wars, as well as those who love the characteristic game genre, will find no fault in Empire at War.
4. Crusader Kings 2 (2012)
An accurate illustration of what you can expect
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Genre: Grand strategy
The game is unbelievably complex
Take control of a medieval dynasty, and lead it through some 400 years of alternate history. The game has no set goal or story, instead providing the played with semi-randomized fun.
Everything in Crusader Kings 2 has so many layers, variants and variables that it’s amazing that they even thought about it. For instance, besides managing your economic, military and religious standing, you also need to be mindful of political marriages and assassinations. Finding a good spouse for your heir can make or break an alliance, while a negative trait you’ve introduced into your dynasty’s genetics can haunt your descendants for centuries.
If you enjoy the strategic aspect of the genre and can live without playing out the battles yourself, then Crusader Kings 2 is possibly the best thing you will ever play.
3. Age of Wonders 3 (2014)
It’s more than worth the long wait
Developer: Triumph Studios
Genre: Turn-based strategy
The word “Epic” doesn’t even begin to describe it
Age of Wonders 3 calls you out to explore and conquer an enchanting fantasy world where bitterness between humans and elves is about to escalate into a full scale war.
The latest title in the series lets you customize your Leader by choosing between six races and classes (the expansions added more), which significantly alters not just the way you play but also what units you can field. The leader, as well as the heroes you recruit, can become more powerful through experience points. Diplomacy plays a large part in AoW3, and you can assimilate neutral settlements instead of conquering them, gaining access to their units, but allowing your culture and alignment to come under their influence.
Indeed, the complexity, addictiveness and all-around beauty that this game has to offer make it truly wondrous.
2. Europa Universalis IV (2013)
EUIV is the most exciting map-based game ever made
Developer: Paradox Development Studio
Genre: Grand strategy
Prepare to see a whole lot of this – and ask for more
Europa Universalis lets you decide the fate of a country throughout the Early modern period, in a highly complex and customizable 4x experience.
Like Crusader Kings II. this game is actually a sandbox map of the world from which you are free to decide and control whatever it is that you want to do. EUIV has no set goal, although the game will end if you are completely conquered. Crushing the world through military might, becoming an economic/religious/trade superpower, or just enjoying the privilege of managing a country, are all viable options for enjoyment.
It could be considered difficult to recommend a game that looks like a map all the time, but Europa Universalis IV offers so much complexity, replayability and options that it breaks the mold. Give it a shot, unless you really hate geography.
1. Civilization V (2010)
Civ V is the most thoroughly fun game in the series thus far
Developer: Firaxis Games
Genre: Turn-based strategy
A border skirmish is about to go downhill
Lead a nation from prehistoric to modern times and beyond in the freshest take on the 4X genre in recent memory.
There are several ways to win the game, from being the highest ranking nation after the time runs out, to complete military conquest of the randomly generated map. In a major innovation from the previous games, Civ V is divided into hexagons instead of cubes, which radically improves one’s ability to maneuver around the map. Stockpiling units in an effort to win through sheer force has become less effective, making smart tactical choices more important than ever. Of course, the inevitable diplomacy is still here, and the AI opponents are more unpredictable than ever.
Everything you’ve ever loved about the series is present in Civilization V, unless you were an spying or religious fanatic, in which case I recommend getting the expansion. Regardless of your minor gameplay preferences though, you owe it to yourself to play this masterpiece.
